May 29, 2023
Waikato med school plan dusted off
A Waikato-based public health expert says it’s time to breathe fresh life into a proposal for a third Aotearoa medical school.
The University of Waikato proposed a graduate entry medical school in 2017 which would put suitable graduates through a four-year degree, rather than the traditional six-year undergraduate programme.
Ross Lawrenson, the university’s professor in population health, says the idea was knocked back, but the problem is getting worse.
More than 800 new doctors are needed every year but the two existing schools only train 550.
He says the model is for a socially accountable school which would be better positioned to work with Maori and Polynesian communities to identify potential students and provide a supportive cultural learning environment.
“Social skills, and cultural skills are just as important as whether they’ve got a (grade point average) of you know, seven and the highest academic qualifications. We want rounded individuals who are supported by their communities – and are going to get back to those communities – coming into our health programmes,” Professor Lawrenson says.
Just 4 percent of general practitioners are Maori, and the current model won’t fix that.